The Sound of Heartbeats Over Static
by LolliBea
Summary: Dipper realizing he likes Norman over the course of on adventurous day. Rated teen for make-outs.
1. Chapter 1

At 4:45 am Dipper decided to flip the boat over by himself. He was nervously aware of the fact that he had been waiting to meet Norman here for twenty minutes already and he needed to keep himself busy.

At 4:50 am Dipper had successfully chased off the angry family of muskrats living under the boat and was thinking of things to say to Norman- who he normally ignored at school, but whom he had been emailing this summer about the Gravity Falls weirdness. 'Hey Norman, seems like you weren't completely bonkers there is some weird stuff out here. ha haha. . .' no.

What about 'Hey norman, look who's the weird kid, now! It's me: I'm the weirdo asking you to meet me by a lake to watch some mystical solstice sunrise magic. . .' dipper kicked a rock, "yup I've been a jerk." he voiced as the rock rolled slowly into the dark depths of the lake.

Dipper turned around at the sound of his name breaking up the quiet of night. "Dipper?" Norman was wide awake and wearing a backpack, "oh, good you're not an internet weirdo."

"Yup," Dipper laughed a little too nervously, "no weirdos here!"

"Uh, yeah," Norman looked around genuinely worried now, "yup, no weirdos."

"Anyway help me get this boat into the lake the sunrise is supposed to be soon and there's something supposed to happen in the lake!"

Norman began to help push, "wait, something's going to happen in the lake?"

"Yeah!"

"Will we be safe out there in a wooden row boat?"

"Oh yeah, the last time, wait, you're not worried about me thinking weird stuff is gonna happen?"

"Um, no."

The sky started to lighten by the time they made it out to the middle of the lake.

Dipper watched eagerly in the direction of the sunrise. Norman tried to look into the depths of the lake. "So what is supposed to happen?"

"Um," dipper rummaged for the #3 book " 'weird writing on the lake surface - summer solstice.' Thats all it says."

Norman hummed and began flipping through the pages. The sky slowly lightened over the lake. The sun breached over the trees and began illuminating the depths of the lake from the shore. Nothing spectacular happened. Dipper's excitement waned and turned into a foggy disillusionment. Norman noticed he was grumbling under his breath "I probably missed some clue, in the light . . I was hoping for an explosion or some . . ."

"Solstice isn't until noon, Dipper."

"What? huh?"

"The solstice happens at noon, not sunrise. Highest point in the sky." Norman pouted up to illustrate the point to the sleep deprived Dipper.

"unghh" was the sound dipper made as he slip into the rowboat to lay down. "I need to lay down" he started to close his eyes, "but not fall asleep! agh! Talk to me Norman, engage me!"

"Uh, so this is Gravity Falls, huh?"

"Do better."

"Who wrote this book?"

"Oh, man, I haven't told you?!" Dipper sat up and launched himself into all the speculation he had of the books and he completely forgot how tired he was. As his story began to end prematurely. Norman opened up his backpack and pulled out two sandwiches for them to share. Maybe Norman would hear the whole story one day and not think Dipper was a lunatic.

The sky began to cloud over in the typical Northwestern fashion around eleven, Norman assessed the sky, "Do you think it's going to rain?"

Dipper waved his hand at the sky, "No way!" They continued on their merry way through their conversation about the contents of the book numbered three and Dipper's summer adventures. So engrossed, that they did not even notice they way the clouds were forming themselves. The Sun aligned with the clouds and a bright beam of light hit the lake surface only a few feet away from their boat. There was a quick argument about wether they should row towards or away from it before the whole lake lit up. Strange symbols floated around the surface, in no order, re arranging themselves with the increasing swell of the waves. "Well, no wonder he never wrote all this down," Dipper said as he gave up trying to fish a pencil and notebook out of his pocket. Waves began crashing around them, roaring, reaching much too high for a lake. The world spun and Norman grabbed his bag quickly before they capsized. Dipper put the book in his vest and grabbed Norman by the jacket and the boat floated up slowly and then they were underwater and there was no gravity. The storm that raged above was silenced, and they were rushed around in the tide. Norman reached for Dipper's jacket as well he could in the chaos and the boys ended up hugging for dear life. One last spin in the tide and they were up above water and it was calm, and there was not a cloud, in the sky, or a wave in the lake - that they were not making themselves - as they gasped for breath, and still held on to each other desperately.

"Ahahaha, that was great!" Norman let go of Dipper and splashed around in a semi-circle. Dipper was still holding on absentmindedly to Norman's jacket, "I didn't get any of it, did you?"

Norman was too ecstatic, "No, it doesn't really matter though, does it? That was awesome!" he waved his hands in the air.

"I guess not." dipper smiled despite his disappointment. "It was pretty cool."

"What happened to your boat?"

"Oh, that wasn't mine I don't know who's that was."

Norman looked back at the boy clinging to his jacket. "I think it's destroyed," he tried to be serious, but his giggled out the words. Then dipper laughed, and he kept laughing.

They weren't done laughing quite a while later, laying up on the end of a dock drying off in the sun, when their tiredness hit them. Their words quieted down,

"You don't think we will be in trouble," Norman asked,

"No I don't think so."

"I kind of feel like that wasn't even real."

"It was, that-" dipper stopped himself short of dishing out all the other weird things that had happened all summer. he was quiet for too long.

Norman tugged on his sleeve, "what?"

"Aw, it's nothing, just lots of weird stuff happens here, and I think this was . . ." Norman was still holding dipper's sun dried sleeve, staring at him with unnervingly blue eyes, and something in Dippers chest fluttered uncomfortably, "definitely real."

"I knew it." Norman said, still staring straight into Dipper. "I knew this place was weird, and," He let go of Dipper's eyes and sleeve to gesture at the world "and this, and the book, it just proves it: Something is up in Gravity Falls." Dipper kept staring at the side of Norman's face; why did he want him to turn his head again? Was Norman supernatural, too? Those eyes, what they did to his chest, maybe if he looked at him again it would make sense.

"Dipper you're zombie-zoning out," Mabel said bulging her eyes and shambling up to him, "What's going on? I haven't seen you since this morning."

"Well, Mabel, a lot has been going on while you slept in." Dipper used his best business voice to keep out the uncertain nervousness he felt about the day's events.

"It was 3 am. You wanted me to row you out into a lake, Dipper."

"Yeah, well you missed out on some spectacular mystical events."

"What happened!"

"You weren't there Mabel, I can't divulge," or maybe I am still unsure what happened, he thought.

"Tell me!" she began chanting "tell me! tell me!"

"oh no, I have created a monster." he mumbled.

She stopped chanting and her eyes sparkled, "you created a monster?! Is he cute?" she was just puling his leg, he knew.

"No, we just made the lake light up as if in a mystical spell, and then it started churning-"

"We?"

"Well, okay, I guess it would have done it even if we weren't there."

"Who did you get to row you out to the middle of the lake?"

"Oh, Norman's here."

"Norman Babcock is in Oregon?"

"Yeah I guess he has some family out here or something."

"Dipper, how did I not know that Norman was here?"

"Oh, he emailed me about it at the beginning of the summer."

"And you JUST NOW decided to hang out with him? You are a goob, Dipper. I'm inviting him over RIGHT NOW."

"What no-"

"Why not? He's probably bored out of his mind!" she picked up the computer mouse, "Dipper we can have a PARTY."

"Mabel no, no more parties, everything is a party let's just-"

She turned away and started typing, and turned around eyes abuldge again "SLEEPOVER!" she screamed and hit enter on whatever she was typing. Dipper was nervous but mabel yelling sleepover would get anyone excited and his involuntary response was, "I'll start the popcorn!" as they ran out of the room.

A half an hour into the festivities Norman arrived. Dipper almost forgot he was why they were having this sleepover. He had been scooped up in Mabel's party spirit and they were already having fun just the two of them when the doorbell rang. Mabel bounced up "I'll get it!" she sang, which was more of a speech but, with mabel they were one and the same. Dipper had put off telling Mabel but now he knew he had to, "Wait Mabel!" His serious tone slowed her down just enough to listen as they made their way to the door, "Something weird happened earlier with Norman, his eyes were like- I dunno, but I think something weird is going on." was all he had time for before he reached the landing. Mabel raised eyebrows and nodded knowingly.

It was not Norman. It was Grady and Candy. "We heard there was a party!" Grady announced.

"Ohmygoshyesss" Mabel said running up the stairs with her friends.

Dipper left in the dust saw Norman getting out of a car in the parking lot. He squinted. There was a dad in the car and a girl about Wendy's age in a pink track suit in the passenger seat. Okay, he thought, he's got a family, so he's probably not an immortal being. Maybe he was just dunked in some radioactive sludge. Norman waved and said a few last words to his dad before running towards the Mystery Shack. "Hey Dipper. I brought some scary movies."

"Oh good, because Mabel and her friends are having a dance party and I would rather do anything but dance to boy bands. We should go say hi though, she will probably get tuckered out after all the sugar." Norman just laughed a little laugh, and followed dipper up the stairs.

They were indeed bouncing around the room to a song that sounded like it was just skipping on the word "baby" over and over. Mabel jumped and landed on an overwhelmed Norman. "Normy, can I call you Normy?"

"Well, you have never called me anything before, so. . ."

Dipper stage whispered, "Give her and inch and she will take a mile."

"Just Norman."

"It's good to see you Norman. Have some sugar." she stuffed some candy into his sweater pocket.

"oh, haha, thanks Mabel."

"We're gonna go watch scary movies, downstairs!" Dipper said as he shoved Norman out the door. "So, what did you bring."

"Oh, uh, 'My Mummy's a werewolf.' "

"Oh god, thats the worst movie ever." Dipper laughed.

"is it worse than "My Mummy's a werewolf 2: This again?"

"Mummy werewolf movie marathon?"

"Mummy werewolf movie marathon."

As the last credits of the last Mummy werewolf movie crackled into the VHS static of yesteryear, Norman asked "I wonder if they made these into a trilogy?"

"Oh god, I don't know if I hope they did or hope they didn't." Dipper rubbed his eyes.

"I also brought 'Blood, Guts and More'. It's actually pretty scary."

"Not funny scary?" Norman nodded "I'm just tired-crazy enough to accept this challenge."

Norman started to rewind the VHS. "Did you find out anything more about the lake today?"

"Oh, no. I guess it was just a weird phenomenon."

"But, it was real though?"

"Yeah that sort of stuff happens all the time." oops.

"Ocean sized storms in a lake?"

"Well," the pause in which dipper had time to think of an elaborate lie went on too long, "no. different stuff."

"Like what?"

"Well, you won't believe me."

Norman turned around to face dipper, in the light of the television static his blue eyes looked unreal again. "I'll believe you." He said it so sincerely dipper started telling him without hesitation all about the gnomes, and the Gobblewonker, and then everything, everything came rushing out and Norman just stared. He's hypnotizing me, thats what it is.

"Wow, that is," Norman finally looked away, "that is crazy."

"I'm not crazy, it was-"

Norman shot him again with those electric blue eyes, "No you're not crazy I believe you. I've seen some things too."

"Really!" Dipper wash't tired anymore. "like what?"

The tape clicked in the VCR.

"Movies done!" Norman announced loudly.

Death jumped out at them from darkness and the sound of creaking stairs haunted them. The memory of the film was a blur. Dipper was so tired but Norman seemed to go on forever. 'Maybe he is a battery' was the current conspiracy theory of sleep deprived Dipper. . .


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: SO SORRY. this was meant to be a one chapter one shot but the ending got cut off? Anyway, Here's the ending sorry for the wait! The whole story is on AO3, as well.

* * *

Something shrieked in the distance of the movie or maybe scuttled in the foreground and it was genuinely frightening. Dipper grabbed Norman's arm, as if he was going to pull him away from the danger. Once it was gone his grip loosened. Norman looked over at him, dipper tightened his grip again. "Are you scared?" Norman asked, always so sincere.

"No." Dipper avoided eye contact, he might hypnotize me again, he thought but he didn't know why he didn't want to let go.  
"It is a pretty scary movie, we can change it."  
Dipper looked over now, "No. I -" There were those eyes again, that color was magical. It might have just been the light from the television that made them glow. But, then why did they hold this grip on him? What mysteries did they hold? And why was this all starting to sound like poetry? Dipper realized what was so mysterious about Norman's eyes and suddenly felt like they were sitting too close. He was invading Norman's space and suddenly it was hard to look him in the eye. "I like this movie."  
"It is good. It's not too often a scary movie is actually scary. Thats why I like it." Norman was so comfortable with this.  
"I like that they didn't over do special effects." It was so easy for Dipper to talk to Norman.  
"Darkness and 35 mm film can do so much."  
"If they had a better budget they couldn't have done better, really." Dipper wasn't even sure Norman realized how easy to talk to he was.  
"The sound effects are perfect," Norman added with a mouthful of popcorn, "so eerie."  
Dipper laughed, "Or they would be if you didn't drown them out crunching popcorn."  
Norman looked over at him again, intimately close and crunched his popcorn loudly in his open mouth. But, the intimacy wasn't uncomfortable, and the silences weren't awkward.

What was awkward was when Dipper blurted out, "I like you."

But, Norman just laughed with a mouth full of popcorn. Dipper hoped he hadn't heard, or more likely, he just thought he was glad to have a friend around. That was probably what he thought Dipper meant. Dipper wasn't even sure why he said that. He had only just realized it. He was lost in his thought for the briefest of moments but was pulled free of his over analyzations by a touch on his hand, and those electrified blue eyes looking straight at him.

"I like you too, Dipper."

And they both looked down nervously, at their hands. This was not a mere admission of friendship. Dipper was pretty sure his hand was shaking as he lifted it up and knit their fingers together. Norman leaned in a little closer. Their eyes never had a hard time finding each others before. Now they felt unsure of themselves. Norman could only seem to find Dipper's mouth to look at occasionally. Where Dipper would normally take a moment to psych himself up to the task he plunged in. Not a headfirst dive but, not exactly dipping his toes in the water, he went for Norman's slightly open mouth. He missed a little but that was overshadowed by the feeling going inside his chest. Norman corrected him with his jaw. Dipper lost consciousness inside Norman's mouth. An occasional brush of tongue against teeth; tongue on lips; lips on tongue on skin. Dipper's mouth was the only part of his body he was aware of until Norman slipped away. Then there were suddenly all these other parts, eyes, shoulders, knees and . . . hands still holding each other.


End file.
